Month: April 2014

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Behind the Man in Black – My review of Marc Eckel’s autobiography: “It’s Not About Me.”

4.0 out of 5 starsBehind the Man in Black,  April 22, 2014

Pulling back the canvas onEckel-AutoBio-Cover Splat Experience and the multi-talented Marc Eckel, this portrait is engaging on a personal level and certainly glorifies God. That is the heart of the author and you can see it on the pages of this autobiography. Possibly the greatest challenge for a writer is to write about themselves…and Eckel let’s you on the inside to see the anecdotes, successes, joys and pains of his life and ministry.

In a couple of hours, you can get a great overview of this captivating ministry and creative artist. The best part is “The Final Chapter” isn’t really the final chapter…it’s just a chapter from 2014. I look forward to the future ministry of Marc Eckel and Splat Experience in 2014 and beyond! The blessing of the Lord is clear…and I look forward to the EXPERIENCE.

P.S. If you haven’t seen a Splat Experience presentation, the pictures of the artwork in the appendix are outstanding (a great feature about the book). Even these pictures pale in comparison to the authentic worship experience of the presentations.

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Sugar Cubes and the Château

Chateau-Apr2014As a 5th grade boy, I remember working on a project with hundreds of sugar cubes. (Some of those got popped into my mouth…I was a boy!) This Sunday School project was to build a replica of the Château that our French missionaries were using to share the Gospel. In my minds eye it was quite a masterpiece as we glued together dozens of sugar cubes to formed this castle.

Now years later, this same Château has caught my fancy. (Although I’m not popping as much sugar these days.) One of my heroes, Tom Julien was the entrepreneur of the acquisition and use of the Château de Saint Albain for building relational bridges with the French to sow the Good News. That ministry began 50 years ago this year! Amazing!

So in the celebration of their 50th anniversary of ministry (of course the building is much older!), there are a variety of ways to be apart. Our Encompass World Partners board of directors are actually meeting on-site for annual meetings this week. This weekend is the first celebration of many for this year.

There are at least 5 ways you can get involved:

Facebook Page for the Chateau1) The easiest way to support the Château and get info about the ministry is on their Facebook page.  Like it RIGHT NOW!

 

2) Another ways you can be apart is helping “kickstart” the printing of a commemorative coffee table book. Much of the design work on the book is already done, but we need funding to actually print the project with our French publishing house Éditions Clé. Your donation will actually be “doubled” bless the work of the Château—so your donation of $100 dollars actually gets the book published and can generate up to $200 toward the ministry! Donate now and help us get this project rolling!

 

chateau100club

3) Soon there will be the restarting of the Château 100 Club where people can become members of the Château ministry with a $100 donation to support the work! You can start right now (on the Project list select FRANCE- $100 Club)!

 

4) You can always go on a Short-Term Trip! At least 4 teams going from the USA this year. Talk to our Mobilizers in the Encompass office to find out how and when you can go. Contact a mobilizer

 

Chateau_banner5) Is the Château calling you?!?!  One of the evolutions in the Château’s ministry over the last 10 years has been to put the leadership firmly into the hands of the European leaders. Today, our North American workers mainly contribute through an on-site support couple.  The current couple, Bob & Lisa Keiffer fulfill their commitment at the end of this year.  We are in need of a new support couple to live in at the Château and serve the nations! Would you be praying for this important role to be filled? Maybe you are interested in serving in this role…  Want to find out more>>

 

Maybe the Château has caught your fancy?!?!….I hope so!  Get involved!

 

Learn more about Encompass World Partner’s work in France and at the Château in the following video:

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My 5 Star Review of Primal Fire

PrimalFireI’ve had the privilege of walking with Neil Cole and his cohorts (Phil Helfer, Ed Waken, Dezi Baker, and Paul Kaak) in varying degrees over the last 15 years. I’ve been an “insider” to the learning that has fleshed itself out into the work Primal Fire. Keen attention to the APEST (apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, shepherding, teaching) gifts has been part of my experience with the CMA movement throughout. (http://CMAResources.org). This is the best articulation of a true APEST team that I’ve experienced on the planet.

Many in mission circles are talking about the need for this APEST community of leaders, but hardly anyone really has that kind of community. What Cole and friends express in Primal Fire is the real deal. It is not merely theory, but theology, theory, principles, practice, victories and pains through real life and ministry. It is a treasure to have this snapshot as captured in Primal Fire.

A word of warning: Don’t merely flip to the chapter on your favorite or perceived gift (chapters 9-13) and read about what an apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd or teacher does. I was tempted to do that, but if you do (or maybe when) make sure to take the time to engage with the first 8 chapters of the book! If you don’t, you will be missing some VERY important foundations from the whole of the New Testament. Most importantly, you’ll skip a tremendous exegesis and exposure of Ephesians chapter 4 (which Cole appropriately dubs the “Magna Carta” of the church [primarily chapters 5-8]).

In those foundational first eight chapters, you’ll be challenged in your theology and your practice. For instance, Cole draws out that church leadership isn’t merely to servant-hood, but to truly be servants. And beyond that leadership in Jesus’ church and hierarchy have no place together! Into church practices, elders and deacons are addressed thoroughly. In fact, a revolutionary biblical proposal on deacons will have you chewing through the Scriptures again.

In the portions of the book that expose and articulate the five APEST gifts that Jesus gave (chapters 9-13), I believe that the authors’ hope is that these pages in Primal Fire will affirm what Jesus has given and will draw together fully functional APEST teams. In fact, as I finished this book (the first time), I left it with a missionary team in Chad (Africa) with the hopes that they would be able to capitalize on these insights to fuel a burgeoning church-planting movement there.

Since this is Jesus’ idea and His gifts for the maturing of the Body, I whole-heartedly encourage you to chew on the content of Primal Fire for the greater multiplication of disciples, leaders, churches and movements all over our globe.

 

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Deleting Mass Quantity Pics Off iPhone (but not all)

iphone camera roll

One of the most annoying things about my iPhone (which I really, really love) is the challenge of deleting a lot of photos (when you have thousands!) without deleting ALL of them.  I’ve searched many different times with NO resolution.

My phone told me again… “Cannot Take Photo” you gotta make room by deleting pictures again today.  So off to Google again.

To my pleasant surprise I found the following help!

How to mass delete camera roll photos in 3 clicks

1. Connect your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to your Mac;

2. Open the Image Capture;

3. Select the photos you want to delete:

  • Select the individual ones you want (using the customary COMMAND + click)
  • Select a whole continuous group  (using the customary SHIFT + click)
  • or Select all the photos (COMMAND + A)

and click the delete button. [It’s the “red” bottom at the bottom of the Image Capture screen.]

(thanks to this Apple Community Post deep into the thread)